Vampirespotting
by Lord Onisyr
Summary: A bored Shingami, an agitated undead detective with a thirst for something more than sweets, an apple orchard, two random occultists, and a Death Note all make for interesting events on Halloween night. Completely AU.


**Vampirespotting**

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters from Death Note are the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Viz Media and all recognizable settings from Vampire: The Masquerade are the property of White Wolf Game Studio. I don't own them; I'm just examining all their possibilities.

Author's Note: This was written for DN Contest at LiveJournal for the prompt "Halloween." This is a completely AU story based on Vampire: The Masquerade, though familiarity with the setting is not needed to understand what is going on.

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Vampires were recognizable by the numbers that appeared under their name. On humans, those numbers represented their lifespan; on vampires the numbers indicated how long they had been dead for.

The numbers looked normal to any human who saw them with Shinigami Sight. A human viewing the numbers of one individual on a nightly basis may have noticed their numbers increased instead of decreased, though humans usually made the Eye Trade in the first place to get their victims' names and usually barely even could figure out their lifespan.

Only a Shinigami, however, could recognize the differences in the formula and spot the extra symbols indicating the passage of time impossible for a human. Even in that case, it was only the older death gods who could recognize a vampire on first sight; most of the lower ranked ones just knew something wasn't quite right about one individual.

All reapers knew that writing a name down was a bad idea. Vampires could not be killed with the Death Note, only immobilized for several minutes. Even worse, a Shinigami would painfully lose four years of their life, forty if the vampire did meet a final end when immobilized.

Zellogi, Gukku, and Deridovely had been around long enough to recognize a vampire by sight; the biggest skill they needed for the game they were playing when Ryuk passed them.

Zellogi and Gukku stared through the same portal into the Human world that overlooked the same busy city street as Deridovely reclined on a rock and paid half-attention to the portal.

"There's one on that corner, I see another crossing the street, that's two," Zellogi said, pointing his hook at the portal.

"By the building, the other just went through the building," Gukku said. "Ha! There traveling in a pack, I just saw three more, that's five!"

"Yeah well I see four of them in that car riding past, that's six for me."

"How can it be four, the top's not even down?"

"It counts," Deridovely boredly chimed in.

"And there's two in that alleyway," Zellogi continued. "That's eight for me."

"Ok, time," Deridovely said. "That's eight for Zellogi and five for Gukku this round."

"Ha, that's four out of five for me," Zellogi said with a toothy grin.

"Aww dammit," Gukku said. "We picked a sucky city for this. It's Halloween; there's gotta be more of them around."

"Hey don't even think about a rematch until you pay me for that last game," Zellogi said.

Gukku momentarily moved his horned head from the portal to see Ryuk skulking off after pausing to watch the proceedings.

"Hey Ryuk, wanna join in?" Gukku said. "You've seen bloodsuckers before, we'll form a team."

"Henh henh, sore loser," Deridovely said, his bony head resting against his wrapped hands.

"Sorry, pal," Ryuk said, "I got other plans."

The three nodded in agreement and went back to their game, though a few lingering glances and grins went Ryuk's way. Ryuk's version of "other plans" had been rather entertaining over the past few years even though things had wound down a bit since Ryuk wrote the name of his pet human in his Death Note.

Since Light Yagami's death, Ryuk returned to the Shinigami realm satisfied. That didn't mean, however, that he would pass up any opportunity for some more fun.

It was Halloween after all; the portals between the worlds yawned a bit wider and everything related to the dead seemed to come together and celebrate itself.

Shinigami were normally not supposed to enter the human world without a specific purpose, though Halloween provided one exception commonly called the Dead Man's Party Clause.

A Shinigami was allowed to enter the human world for no more than 12 hours on Halloween if possessing a specific vampire or wraith that was not dead due to the Shinigami. One couldn't choose a random undead to do this, it had to be someone who the Shinigami had met face to face and had touched that Shinigami's Death Note.

It had been over six years since Ryuk had made one new buddy in the human world who met all those criteria.

Ryuk walked over to one of the portals for viewing the human world to make sure his intended entertainment was still where he thought he was.

A few recollections of a name and a face showed the individual in question still perched in a small tree; knees to his chest as usual and now-normal looking teeth gently nibbling the tip of his thumb.

Ryuk saw the same jeans and the same calloused bare feet, though this time his long-sleeved shirt had red and black horizontal stripes. Wild black hair was held down slightly by the elastic band for the cheap plastic vampire mask that was now on the top of his head.

Ryuk could still see the name "L Lawliet" and the tell-tale formula of increasing numbers reflecting the passage of 111 years.

Shinigami eyes showed L and Watari had used various look-alike doubles during their time with Light, though it was this name and number in particular seen during nighttime that clued Ryuk in that the real ones were a bit more special.

His confirmation came after L's "death" at Rem's hand several years ago. An hour or so after his and Watari's bodies were taken away, Ryuk tracked them down in a nearby hotel talking and drinking interesting-looking red liquid from plastic bags instead of lying stiff in morgue coolers.

A tap of a Death Note on both of them, Ryuk was now face to face and soon in a conversation with two confirmed vampires. L didn't seem to bare a grudge against him and didn't even ask if he represented Light as Kira; he kind of knew already.

Light would brag later of how he sneered at L in his "last moments." Light would have no idea L and Watari were in America to report back to their superiors; L carrying three sheets of Ryuk's Death Note courtesy of Ryuk's "goodwill gesture" (or rather another experiment).

Ryuk paid L another visit the Halloween after Light's name went in Ryuk's notebook; a rather fun affair involving a few other vampires and a couple other Shinigami with vampire friends.

L's body language now told Ryuk he was doing more than just hanging out in a tree; his eyes scanned the entire area, muscles tense though he looked almost perfectly calm. The look of hunger in his eye was obvious.

Interrupting a hungry vampire as he hunted may have been a messy proposition, or even more entertaining.

A few objects scattered around the ground ended all debate on his impending plans. Lying all over the ground and hanging from the trees in view were big, juicy-looking apples.

Ryuk excitedly licked his lips as he practically skipped to the gaping portal leading to the Human Realm and unfurled his wings.

---------

It had been a lovely farm at one point. The white barn was the first thing one would see coming down the country back road followed by the mass of apple trees and the acres of corn being harvested by tractors.

The back country road was now the dead side of a state highway. The barn was white in all the places that weren't rotting off, smashed apart, or boarded up. The tractors lying in scattered rusted heaps with car parts and beer cans and the corn field was overgrown with grass and weeks or simply bald patches of dirt and trash. The only thing that remained was the acre of apple trees that still bloomed and produced luscious fruit as always.

L reached up from his perch and gently plucked off an apple, eyes still scanning the perimeter and nose still tracing the scent of the four humans that had passed by. His teeth sunk into the apple and he chewed off a piece, an action that was a last effort distraction from the sickening hunger that coursed through every part of him.

This was a quiet, isolated place regularly frequented by the types of humans that could be easily tracked down, fed from, and have their memories tweaked so they remembered nothing with no witnesses around. It was the ideal spot for L, extremely hungry and still wounded.

What started as a simple investigation for a few suspected spies for the Sabbat, a rival vampire sect, ended with him and his old friend Matt in a nasty tangle with a few more creatures than they wanted. A few now-healed gunshot wounds for him and a few broken necks for them later, L's internal blood supply was near low.

The hunger could not wait for the return trip to the city. He had told Matt to pull over and wait for him as he hunted, Matt kindly letting him borrow a spare shirt he kept in his car. L's intolerance for soiled clothing went beyond normal for most individuals; he could tolerate the odor of cigarette smoke and old rags on this shirt, though blood saturation on the other was a little harder to manage.

A mixed-gender group of high schoolers passed by about half an hour ago already reeking of alcohol and talking about making out or other activities. They were easy prey, simply make telepathic contact with one to get the appearance of a classmate, erase the memory of that contact, and suddenly appear before them as that classmate long enough to feed.

It was a strategy he had used before and easily done. L, however, knew he would have to corner them soon; he prided himself on being able to retain his self-control a bit better than most vampires, though he could feel his fangs threatening to push out.

His attention was briefly turned from the perimeter to a sudden gust of wind overhead. L kept his gaze on the ground, but slowly looked up.

The view of the full moon through the trees was blocked for a moment by a black screen that moved past; a few black feathers floating down as the moon came into view again.

L's muscles tightened, hands taking a firmer grip on the branches supporting him. The tree gently shook, the branches rustling as a vibration went through the trunk of something gently settling its weight on the branches adjacent to L.

L sat frozen, not making a sound; that was not a bird or even an animal behind him, nor was it a human. Hopefully his vampiric invisibility made him unnoticed, though there were plenty of creatures who could see through that.

The branches slightly rustled again; his visitor had just leaned in a little closer. Worst case scenario this was a bird shapeshifter, a wereraven; a nasty looking cross between a bird and a human that didn't like undead too much. No better than that option was a demon, it was Halloween after all. Then again the thing behind him could have been a certain acquaintance of his from the land of the dead.

Regardless of who or what it was, however, now was a bad, bad time for visitors.

L slowly raised the apple in his hand upwards and in the direction of his visitor, his gaze slowly shifting to that direction.

A familiar set of long, black claws slightly scraped his hand while plucking up the fruit. L looked to the side to see the apple fly into the air before a mass of sharp teeth pulverized it in a second.

Juice from the obliterated apple ran past that perpetual grin that was soon in his direction; yellow eyes with red irises now locked squarely with L's eyes.

L's face was expressionless, though suddenly turned into a gleeful smile.

"Why greetings, Ryuk," he said as politely as he could, though the strain was clearly in his voice. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Under normal circumstances he would not have minded Ryuk's presence. Having him here right now was not a good thing; not just because of L's hunger but Ryuk's infamous unpredictability.

He did welcome any idle conversation while his attuned hearing still tracked his intended prey a few hundred feet away. Any chit chat with Ryuk meant a distraction from the hunger and one more anchor to keep himself from fully losing it.

Ryuk reached up into the tree and plucked another apple, actually taking a few chomps out of it before practically inhaling the rest.

"Well this is a pretty boring way to spend Halloween," Ryuk said. "Isn't it also your birthday?"

"Why yes it is," L said, hearing the kids in the high brush talk about someone's slutty French maid costume. He would give it another minute before making his move no matter how much the fire in his stomach pleaded otherwise. "Though this is only the after party, you should have been around an hour ago; things got rather interesting."

"Hyuk, hyuk, never a dull moment for bloodsuckers I guess," Ryuk said, plucking off another apple and tossing the whole thing in his mouth. "Guess you got a little messy, you're wearing your buddy's shirt."

"Indeed," L replied. "I just don't like being dirty for too long."

He was about to jump from his low perch until another set of voices caught his attention.

He relaxed his heightened sense of hearing and strengthened his sight to look across the field. Two young men wearing not only all black but also black capes walked a few hundred feet in the opposite direction of the drunken teens; both carrying plastic shopping bags filled with items L could see included a silver goblet, firewood, and the hilt of an ornate dagger in the bags.

L didn't need to raise his hearing to understand their conversation.

"This had better work this time," one of them, a rail-thin youth with bleach blond hair and several facial piercings, said.

"Hey, the last time we summoned an imp," said the other, a slightly overweight man with long, curly black hair and an unkempt beard. "Remember how the house shook, remember the messages we got from the Ouija Board."

"You were totally moving your hand that time and that was a fucking dump truck passing by," the blond man said. "Look, this time let's not fuck this up. I want to see a serious demonic presence."

"It's Devil's Night, my friend," the other said. "The feast of Samhain; the portals are gaping open."

The two disappeared into the brush and their mutterings continued. A feral smile spread over L's face.

These two were morons playing with "Blacke Magicke;" legitimate infernalists wouldn't advertise themselves so much. Idiots like this, however, would see a bird flying toward them in the middle of a ritual and think it was a demon.

Not only was it just two of them, L could also approach them with a little more leeway with the Masquerade. They could be manipulated with outward uses of vampiric powers, more susceptible to suggestion, and even if they did hold onto any memories no one, not even seasoned hunters, tended to believe them.

"You see something juicy don't you, hyuk hyuk," Ryuk said.

L looked briefly at the Shinigami before swinging his legs over the branch and gently jumping to the ground. Ryuk's presence could have been a problem in this case, but as long as he got some blood soon; whatever Ryuk was capable of was a mot point.

"Excuse me for a moment, my friend," L said, pulling the bloody-fanged Dracula mask over his face. "I need to grab a quick bite, but I promise you a fun party later."

L took one last look back at the Shinigami who munched on another apple; bulging eyes regarding him curiously before he turned around and walked in the humans' direction.

Ryuk waited until L was out of sight in the brush before pulling out his Death Note and pen, chuckling the whole time.

----------

L was wary of his distance to the large bonfire between the two idiots. He could tolerate the presence of fire a little better than most vampires, though he still made a note of how he would have to maneuver to do what he wanted.

The past few minutes were filled with chanting in bad Latin phrases; the heavy-set man's eyes closed and looking a little more into this than the blond, who regularly opened his lids, looked around, and rolled his eyes.

L was familiar with this type of ritual in his own duties in hunting down more legitimate infernalists among his own kind; one of the many types of supernaturally related jobs he had since his report to the Inner Circle several years ago on the Death Note.

He was quite aware the next phase involved the chalice in the blond's hand, the dagger in the other's hand, and his own already frayed sense of willpower. Now was the time to act.

L walked a few steps closer, his invisibility still intact as the two humans walked in front of the fire and were now side-by-side. The scent of cheap bourbon, probably about 100 proof, was now a few feet away from L, but he had to so something now before the scent of a sliced hand got the better of him.

He dropped his invisibility and two sets of eyes were suddenly on the thin figure clad in jeans and striped shirt, face concealed behind a cheap Dracula mask with black hair sticking out every where.

The two humans suddenly jumped in surprise, the blond spilling a few drops of the liquor and the heavy man holding up his dagger in defense.

"Hello there," L said cheerily.

"Who…what…who the fuck are you," the bearded one said, ceremonial tone completely out the window.

The masked head moved back and forth before falling back on the two.

"I'm a demon," L said matter-of-factly. "You summoned me, didn't you? So here I am."

The two looked at each other with their expressions of deep annoyance turning to rage.

"Hey, crackhead, fuck off," the bearded one said, leaning in toward L.

L grabbed the bottom of his mask and slowly pulled it up; revealing glowing yellow eyes that made the blond jump and the bearded one stand back a bit.

"Holy shit," the blond said.

"It would be best if you didn't insult a creature from the lower planes," L said, showing extended fangs. "I said I am the demon you summoned; now I require some payment before I do anything further."

"Glow-in-the-dark contacts and porcelain fangs, how cute," the bearded one said. "You get those at a Halloween store?"

"Fucking hell, man," the blond said, smacking his companion hard on the shoulder. "Are you a moron?"

L was somewhat enjoying the exchange, though the threat of a smirk vanished at the sight of the black creature circling over them. He tried not to look directly at Ryuk, but his own eye roll produced an even bigger grin from the Shinigami.

Ryuk flew a few feet above the humans; his Death Note swatting both over the head as he turned mid-air and landed beside L.

The humans grabbed their heads in surprised shock before turning forward; jaws dropping and bodies trembling at the hulking being in front of them.

Ryuk fell on one knee beside L, bowing his head toward him.

"Are these mere mortals disbelieving of you, my infernal master?" Ryuk said dramatically.

L tried to keep a straight face, his annoyance building as he gave Ryuk a calm glare. Then again this new development could have been advantageous.

"Forgive them their ignorance, my servant," L said, knowing that playing along was probably a good thing. "They should now know that our powers are not to be denied."

"It worked better than I imagined," the bearded one said in gleeful awe, attention firmly on Ryuk. "I should never have doubted your will, my dark lord. You sent this mere decoy as a test, and I do admit I failed."

"Dude, seriously, didn't you just hear what the demon said, he is but a minion" the blond said before falling on his knees before L. "My lord forgive my companion, he knows not the full power of darkness. He does not know the simplest form of darkness is its most powerful."

"I shall forgive his foolishness," L said, his smile back in full force. "Though you are still his companion and I will ask of the sacrifice from you first."

"Anything, my lord," the blond said.

"You're kidding me right," his companion snapped, followed by a few loud chuckles from Ryuk.

"I request your wrist so that I may taste if your essence is worthy," L said, his tongue gleefully awaiting the taste of blood.

"You are not worthy to taste our blood," the heavier set man said, coming to his friend and yanking the chalice from his hand.

L's patience was dangerously waning. His dead lungs took in deep breaths to calm himself, though his self-control was holding on by a few threads. At this point all he could hear was both pounding heartbeats and smell the blood from both of them.

The bearded man sneered at L, throwing the chalice at his chest. At least half a pint of bourbon splattered across Matt's shirt, soaking into the fiber and down to L's flesh.

L looked down, seeing the once clean shirt now completely wet. His mind then shut down.

He looked up at the bearded man, eyes fading back to their original deep gray; fangs fully bared.

"Uh oh," Ryuk said, "you just pissed him off."

The man managed a gurgle as fangs ripped through his throat; a light, yet supernaturally strong creature body-slamming him on the ground and drinking up the fountain of his life essence that burst from the torn jugular vein.

L was now an animal holding his prey down and drinking greedily; the fire in his body cooling significantly and the taste of sweet blood soothing his senses.

A few more gulps later, his predator instincts were relaxing and he was becoming more aware of himself. He pushed his own willpower further, this time bolstered by his waning hunger.

L pried his fangs out of the man's throat, looked down, and a wave of shame and anger washed over him. He came to a sit, the man's face bone white, throat a mess of blood and various forms of tissue. The blood tricked out now where it had gushed earlier.

He had let himself lose control of his instincts, a reality that frightened and angered him. It was of some consolation that Matt's shirt only got a few blood spatters around the collar and the rest was just soiled with the liquor.

He looked up to see the other man staring at him in awe. L hopped to his feet, knowing he had another problem on his hands that would have to be silenced before it could run away.

"He was worthy of death, my lord," the blond said, his expression now clearly of admiration and not fear. "He denied your power, though I do not."

The blond unclasped his cape and threw it to the ground, exposing a black, button down shirt underneath. The bottom of the shirt was soon in his hand as well and thrown to the side a few feet away from the fire. He then stretched out his arm, clearly offering his forearm to L.

L pondered the arm, knowing a few more pints of blood would completely satisfy him. L took a step forward, his bloody hands clasping the man's arm.

"You shall be rewarded for your offering," he said before sinking his fangs into the vein and slowly drinking.

Ryuk's muted chuckles were now making him suspicious.

He drank a few pints until satisfied, pulling his fangs out of the man's flesh and retracting them at last. The man looked at L in awe, slowly walking back and reaching into one of the plastic bags for a gallon bottle of bourbon.

The blond unscrewed the top, picking his cape off the ground and pouring some liquid onto the fabric. He then walked forward to L, cautiously leaning the fabric forward and washing most of the blood from his face.

L allowed the action, welcoming a little more cleanliness; though the shirt was going to have to come off soon.

The man then poured liquor over his companion's dead body before gradually dragging him to the fire enough to set his body ablaze. Ryuk's rising laughter was making this whole scene even more suspicious.

A moment later, the man was pouring the rest of the bourbon over himself; tossing the bottle into the fire, which practically exploded.

"May the blessings of apples be upon you," the man said.

L's eyes widened, Ryuk was now howling in laughter.

A moment later the man jumped into the fire, quickly catching ablaze. He made no sound nor any struggle as his body was completely consumed within a minute.

L stepped back a safe distance from the growing flames. He took off Matt's shirt, wrapping the vampire mask in the fabric. He then grabbed the dagger with the cloth smeared it in the blood in the ground, and tossed all into the fire before reactivating his invisibility and sprinting away.

He took one last look back, seeing the bodies now completely consumed and making sure his own feet were clean and not smearing blood before continuing on.

A minute later he was back at the front of the apple orchard, a few hundred feet away from where he was earlier and a few hundred feet more away from Matt's car.

A black shirt waved in front of his face, dangling from the claws of the grinning Shinigami landing in front of him.

"You forgot your little present, hyuk hyuk hyuk," Ryuk said.

L took the shirt, glaring at Ryuk.

"Ryuk, you wouldn't have had anything to do with what happened back there, would you," L said, undoing the buttons on the shirt. His torso was still covered in strong liquor and some spatters of blood, though it was mostly dry by now and more tolerable.

Ryuk's laughter continued, answering L's question for him. He fully unbuttoned the shirt, not minding so much about the small smears of blood from his now-dry hands, and snaked his thin arms through the sleeves.

"Well, maybe I did," Ryuk said, managing to stop his laughter long enough to speak. "It's not against the rules to show you the gift I got you."

Ryuk pulled his Death Note from his holster, turning a couple pages with a claw and holding it open in front of L.

L fastened the buttons on the shirt as he read with a grimace.

"David Alvarez, blood loss," read one entry. "He will take part in his planned ritual. When approached by an inhuman creature, he will taunt that creature disbelieving any evidence of its powers. He will use any method to soil the creature's clothing and he will die of rapid blood loss right afterwards."

L sighed, eyes moving to the next entry.

"Joseph Rich, suicide," the next one read. "When approached by a creature, he will worship that creature. He will remove his shirt and put it in a place where it will remain clean. He will then offer his blood to the creature. After this is done, he will clean off the creature's face. He will put the human corpse next to him in a fire, dousing it with the nearest flammable liquid. He will then say this to the creature: 'May the blessings of apples be upon you,' before dousing himself with the liquid, jumping into the fire, and dying soundlessly in the flames."

"You said this was my gift," L asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Hey I handed you an easy meal, arranged for body disposal, and got you that spiffy new shirt," Ryuk said, closing the book and putting it back in its original location. "Anyone goes by that fire; it will look like a couple crazy cultists just killed themselves on Halloween."

L nodded. It was logical; annoying, but logical. He wanted to scold Ryuk for putting him in a situation of hunger frenzy, though such words would only make his situation worse. In a twisted, Shinigami line of reasoning, it was a rather generous gift.

"I appreciate your gift, Ryuk," L said, managing a smile and licking some of the blood off his hands. "I have a few matters to attend to, but meet me in about an hour. I will have some apple pie waiting."

"If you say so," Ryuk said, grin wide. "Happy birthday, L."

He leapt up from the ground, wide wings catching the air and lifting him up high with a long series of cackles.

----------

"You fucked up my shirt, didn't you," Matt said, leaning against the car and taking a casual draw from his cigarette.

L gave him a tired glare, prompting a chuckle from his companion.

"Hey this one looks spiffy on you, matches your hair," Matt said, opening the driver's side door as L slowly walked to the passenger's side. "Is our tank off E now?"

"I am quite satisfied, thank you," L said, opening the door and practically falling into the seat.

"You didn't run into any more of our Sabbat friends, did you," Matt said, closing his door with a slam and shoving the keys into the ignition. "You look like shit quite frankly."

L closed his door and leaned his head back.

"Fortunately no, but it is a rather long story," L said. "A story better told over some drinks and some apple pie."

"Hey, I'm game," Matt said, turning on the ignition and pulling back on the road. "Oh, and happy birthday by the way."

L leaned forward, gently nibbling the tip of his index finger; a smile sneaking out.

"Thank you," he said.


End file.
